﻿Beneficial to Agriculture. 35 



favourite nesting sites ; but sometimes odd situations are selected, 

 such as letter-boxes and inverted flower-pots, also the disused 

 nests of other birds. The nest is generally composed of dried 

 grass and moss, with a lining of hair and feathers, the whole 

 forming a saucer-shaped structure. The eggs are from five to 

 eleven in number, and are pure white, spotted with deep red. 



This handsome bird has the whole of the head (excepting the 

 snow-white cheek and ear-covert) throat, collar and broad stripe 

 down the centre of the breast and abdomen glossy blue-black ; 

 mantle and back olive-green, shading into ashy-grey on the rump 

 and upper tail-coverts ; wing-coverts blue-grey, the outer ones 

 tipped with white ; primaries and secondaries brown edged with 

 pale grey ; tail slate-grey, outer pair of feathers tipped and margined 

 with white ; sides of breast and flanks pale sulphur-yellow ; bill 

 black ; legs and feet leaden-grey. The female is less rich in colour, 

 and the stripe down the breast is narrower. 



BRITISH COAL TITMOUSE. (PL XVIII.) 

 Parus britannicus. 



Although less abundant than either the Great Tit or Blue Tit, 

 this little bird is generally distributed and resident throughout 

 Britain, but it is local in Scotland, and absent from the Hebrides, 

 Orkneys and Shetlands. Its chief haunts are fir, oak and birch 

 woods, plantations and copses, also it is frequent in orchards and 

 gardens. The same haunts are used for nesting purposes. The 

 Coal Tit usually builds its nest in a hole in a tree or bank, often 

 in the burrow of a mouse or other small mammal, and sometimes 

 in crevices in walls. The nest is made of hair, moss and wool, 

 with an ample lining of feathers. The eggs vary from six to ten, 

 and are pure white, speckled with pale red. 



The Coal Tit is a remarkably active little bird, incessantly in 

 motion, searching for aphides, larvae and various other insects, also 

 spiders, which form its principal food. The young are fed almost 

 entirely on caterpillars and spiders. The number of caterpillars a 

 pair of these birds destroy during a season, in supplying their 

 young, is enormous, and the Coal Tit is thus a most useful little 

 bird to the fruit-grower, and should be protected and encouraged 

 throughout the year. 



